Context and expectations

[David M. Lloyd]

On 07/23/2012 10:26 AM, mark.reinhold at oracle.com wrote:
> As to requirements, as I mentioned on another thread recently I agree
> that the current document is a mix of requirements and design choices,
> and it needs a rework.  That's the purview of the module-system JSR EG,
> which will start its work in due course.

I understand now (I think) the aims of your document and efforts, thanks 
to your recent postings, and that does help me to make sense of the 
choices and perspective of the project, so thanks for that clarification.

> At the same time, I'm not a big believer in the pure waterfall-style,
> requirements-driven approach to software engineering.  Sometimes,
> especially in large problem domains where there are many possible
> solutions, it's worth exploring and prototyping one or more specific
> new design directions before finishing a proper requirements document.

Yeah, I tend to agree believe it or not, though I tend to frame the idea 
in terms of "understanding the problem".  A better understanding of the 
problem yields better requirements which in turn yield better software. 
  I agree that prototypes can be a very effective tool to allow a better 
understanding of the problem.

> That's what we've been doing here, and we've learned an awful lot in the
> process.  Yes, our approach is based on our particular experiences and
> intuitions, and no, we don't expect that everyone will agree with it.
> The EG might ultimately choose an entirely different direction, but
> whatever happens I think the end result will be better for having been
> informed by this work.

I hope so, and I hope that the work I've done in the past and intend to 
do in the future will also contribute positively to this effort.
-- 
- DML